Can the Totem Hawk Rock?

Rock?...realistically, at modest levels, rock'in would really need those speakers to be subwoofer assisted. I know I could easily send those drives into audible distress, compression, distortion, you name it. My suggestion for people wanting to rock with speakers such as these(by the way, the long wall will get you better sound easier likely, wiht less tinkering) is to cross em over with a pre/pro and enlist the help of a sub! Trust me, full range through a smaller passive speakers like those is going to be limited with high dynamic source material, most definitely. letting em play down to about 80hz crossed over yields 100-200% better dynamic range and headroom easily. yes, you might potentially sacrifice ultimite purity with some pre/pro's this way for music, but you more than gain in the dynamics. And, with some pre/pro's you can use "dirrect through-put" for more purity. Or, if your CD/DVD player is just so-so digitally, go digital dirrect and process that way...otherwise, leave your standard 2 channel set up for more delicate chores.
Basically, if you like the Totems(you'll have to listen), and you want to rock, you need to maximize dynamics, and some compromises might be necesary. Thus is the nature of the beast with passive setup's like yours. If you doubt, just pop in "Fluke/Absurd" or most any Metalica cut into your system playing full range (w/o a sub, full range) and listen to your speakers crying for help!..not to mention flat distorted, undynamic sound overall.
As for your concern about buying the Totems, I don't get it. Buy em and sell em if you don't like. I don't understand people's thinking they'll find the ultimate sound with "one shot"!...it don't work that way. Try em in your room/system and you'll know. Otherwise, you'll only assume/guess. It's a hobby..it takes time. Throw it out there and see. If you're unwilling to "make second best chioces" with this stuff, you'll never know anything. Besides, they won't be your last speaker anyway. There's always more latter..trust me.

I have a little Totem experience as a former Totem Forest owner and having dealt with a super Totem dealer and meeting many other Totem speaker owners on Agon, I feel somewhat qualified to offer suggestions here. There definately is significant improvement in performance as you move up the Totem line. I was all set to buy the Hawks until I heard the Forests. While both are good speakers, the Forests simply handle loud music better and will rock. Two separate dealers I trust told me the tweeters on the Hawks simply can't compete with the tweeters on the Forests. You can commonly p/u a pair of Forests under $1900 which (imo) is a great deal. If you really want to eaperience Totem sound, Rbstehno is a big proponent of the Mani 2s which I think is a step up from the Forest in soundstage and bass reproduction. Of course, good quality amplification is critical to yield all you can from these speakers. I'm not telling you the Hawk is not a good choice, only that for a few more $$ the Forests or Manis might be the way to go. Good luck.

Definitely,
If you add a-bit more for used pair you may have Forrests that are substantially better performers of nearly any kind of music...

Fantastic advice from all. I love this website...I'm hooked; had to get up early today (before the "honeydo's" and check for responses).
A lot of responses dealt with having sufficient power for the Totem's. So, give it to me straight, do I have enough power? I'm powering my speakers with an Audio Research D-240 (IMHO a good solid state amp). That's 240 watts per into 4 ohms or 120 per into 8 ohms (not sure what the math is for 6 ohms). Not sure what the Totems are; I assume 6 ohms? Anyway, it's a tuff little amp and my Musical Design tube preamp helps to smooth out the solid state sound. I'm running the Martin Logan Sequel II's just fine right now. I'm not sure how efficient the ML's are?

I will agree with Exertfluffer on auditioning any speaker in your room with your equipment. if you get quality equipment on audiogon at a decent price, you will be able to sell it again if you don't like it. Totem speakers sell pretty fast on audiogon.

I would not agree with Exertfluffer on driving these speakers into distress unless you cross them over at 80hz. If you were trying to get 115 decibels of sound in a 15 x 30 ft room, then these would not be your speaker, go with revel's, joseph, wilson watt puppys, or totem winds. you have a small room, it will not take much to produce loud music. when i had my totem model 1's with a rel sub, i ran the model 1's full range with no crossover involved. this was rel's recommendation. i had that system very loud with no breakup/distress. one thing to remember, you need a quality amp. if you don't, then the speaker would start breaking up because of the lack of power, not from the speaker not handling the power.
good luck!